Sentinels leave competitive Fortnite

Everything has a beginning and an end, even if we don’t like it. In esports, this is no exception, as many players and organizations have had to part ways for different reasons that, although not entirely accepted by the fans, are things that happen.

Following this order of ideas, we can highlight that an esports organization rarely decides to voluntarily part with a world champion. Moreover, doing so in a title as popular as Fortnite is much rarer still.

But business is business, and this can happen anytime in esports, and this is the case with Sentinels.

Sentinels leave Fortnite

And is that, through an official statement, the organization’s executive director, Rob Moore, has announced that his team, Sentinels, will ultimately leave the competitive scene of Fortnite.

In response to this Tweet, Moore also highlighted that players will not be renewed heading into Fortnite’s 2023 season. Among these players, we have Nick “Aspect” McGuire, Brian “Zyfa” Wielgolaski, and the 2019 world champion, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf.

Bugha managed to take home a juicy prize of three million dollars at the Fortnite 2019 World Championship; he was also the first player to compete professionally under the Sentinels banner.

Moore highlighted in his publication the reasons why Sentinels decided not to renew a player as talented as Bugha, in which he mentions that Sentinels’ strategy is:

“Focus on games that provide the opportunity to activate for our sponsors or offer in-game content with the team’s branding.”

This brings to mind that Fortnite does not offer the opportunity sponsors want in an esports team.

In addition, after the 2019 World Championship, Epic Games has not indicated that there will be another, as the end of 2022 marks the third anniversary of Bugha’s win.

Future of Sentinels

This does not mean that Sentinels is out of Esports. On the contrary, as we know, the organization is powerful in titles like Halo, Apex Legends, and VALORANT. Especially the latter, as they are one of the most popular teams in NA.

These three video games have esports tournaments organized by their developers and some major sponsors. That is why the organization keeps betting on them.

This move reflects how the esports world is in general. Many sponsors are moving away from this industry, which is why different organizations want to have their teams in titles with a lot of support from developers and private companies.

It is no secret that Fortnite’s popularity remains in the extensive player base it has, as it does not offer investment opportunities for sponsors.

Bugha bids farewell at the highest level

In a statement on his official Twitter account, Bugha said:

“I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunity over the last three years. While this is the end of an era and memorable chapter of my career — this also starts an exciting new one in 2023.”

Header: Epic Games